diff --git a/src/uu/stat/src/stat.rs b/src/uu/stat/src/stat.rs
index 41fe5bf895c..e5e7e88b654 100644
--- a/src/uu/stat/src/stat.rs
+++ b/src/uu/stat/src/stat.rs
@@ -794,6 +794,17 @@ impl Stater {
 
         Self::process_flags(chars, i, bound, &mut flag);
 
+        // GNU rejects flag-only fragments closed by another '%', e.g. `%++-+%`.
+        if *i < bound && chars[*i] == '%' {
+            let invalid_directive: String = chars[old..=*i].iter().collect();
+            return Err(DirectiveError::new(
+                format_str,
+                &invalid_directive,
+                old,
+                *i + 1,
+            ));
+        }
+
         let mut width = 0;
         let mut precision = Precision::NotSpecified;
         let mut j = *i;
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_stat.rs b/tests/by-util/test_stat.rs
index 2f7c3157723..47bfbe652ef 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_stat.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_stat.rs
@@ -774,6 +774,15 @@ fn test_printf_invalid_directive() {
         .stderr_contains("'%9%': invalid directive");
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn test_format_flags_closed_by_percent_are_invalid() {
+    // GNU rejects flag-only fragments ended by another '%', e.g. `%++-+%`.
+    new_ucmd!()
+        .args(&["--format=%++-+%1212x", "/"])
+        .fails_with_code(1)
+        .stderr_is("stat: '%++-+%': invalid directive\n");
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn test_invalid_directive_after_multibyte_char() {
     let ts = TestScenario::new(util_name!());